To all who braved the snow to be there.< >From Andy Martin and Pete Attwood

Work programme

What we’ve achieved:

Cut and rake the wildflower meadow

Wood processing – huge amounts of splitting, sawing and chopping.

The log store in the forest school area was renovated and looks great.

Fruit bushes planted into pots in the greenhouse – help yourself anyone who wants one

Tayberries and logan berries have been pruned back and a new structure put in for the logan berry

Continued work on the forest school area, bark and benches.

Prepare ground for planting

Collect wood from Crewe

Next Jobs

Clean the giants eyes

Clear the art shed

Empty the composting toilet

Plant out the trees that are in pots

Veg soup for next cooking day?

START the new growing season, yippee!

Events/visits

Grow Speke 6th Feb to share a meal and look at Grozone – thank you everyone that cooked soup, lots of kind feedback from Selina.

Barons Quay visitors, Andy met Lina to see how Grozone can be involved in sprucing up an area of Barons Quay ready for July and Northwich in Bloom.

United Utilities came to look at our flood and found a blocked pipe. So hopefully when they unclog it there wont be a problem anymore.

Other projects/partnerships

Roots to Wellbeing Practical Horticulture Award – next block starting soon, is now a rolling programme so anyone can join when they please as long as they have done the paperwork and are unemployed.

Brightlife due to start towards the end of March.

Love My River Project. Funding due to end at the end of March, Pete is looking at new ways of using it, e.g. Love my river Nantwich.

Volunteer led sessions still going well and thank you to the Volunteer Leaders that continue to allow these to happen.

Andy send word to ask permission from the Friends of Grozone group to apply for funding on their behalf for a Mental Health Self Help group from Peoples Health Trust, Friends Group very happy to OK this and wish luck with the funding.

Any other business

CF is starting a new routine in the afternoons at Grozone – Bushcraft, Well being Wednesday, and Chat and Craft. Updates about what is happening each week for each theme will be on facebook and CF will verbally let volunteers know. All volunteers present are happy to go forward with new routine.Music once a month, Outdoor cooking each week and Roots to Well being is still taking place each week.

A reminder – that volunteers, including volunteer leaders who are not leading are not allowed in the tool shed without asking permission of the leader of the day first.

Discussion on moving the smoking shelter or making it more shelter. CF reluctant to change it, it is a shelter for smoking in, not hanging out in. There are lots of warm and shelter places to go around Grozone when you have finished your cigarettes. It is also up to anyone who isn’t a smoker if they come and join the smokers in the shelter, that is their choice.

Jonathan Hampshire keen to invite Transition Town Northwich to come and talk to Grozone volunteers about what they do with a transition town and if we can help towards a greener future

Jonathan Hampshire also keen to be part of the Green Hearts campaign from “Show the Love” a movement to bring climate change to the fronts of peoples minds. This involves making green hearts from paper and seeds and sending them to the local MP – this will happen on a Wellbeing Wednesday “connect” day – maybe 14th March.

Stuart Poucher is organising with Pete Attwood a specific Grozone volunteers talk of his trip to Madagascar, this will take place at the Groundwork Offices on a Thursday, exact date and time to be arranged

Rachel Lanham expressed a need for more advertising and a refresh of the posters that are around Northwich Town, with our new routine on. JH happy to put up a poster in citizens advice and RL in the information point. CF to make a poster. Also could they go further a field, e.g. wyvern house and Winsford library?

In order to make Grozone fully wheelchair accessible, could we not build a ramp into the boot room?

Notified volunteers of the small pot of funding coming from the Co-Operative Supermarket, for the wood workshop, first instalment of approx. £200 coming very soon.

The log store in the forest school area was renovated and looks great.

Fruit bushes planted into pots in the greenhouse – help yourself anyone who wants one

Tayberries and logan berries have been pruned back and a new structure put in for the logan berry

Continued work on the forest school area, bark and benches.

Prepare ground for planting

Collect wood from Crewe

Next Jobs

Clean the giants eyes

Clear the art shed

Empty the composting toilet

Plant out the trees that are in pots

Veg soup for next cooking day?

START the new growing season, yippee!

Events/visits

Grow Speke 6th Feb to share a meal and look at Grozone – thank you everyone that cooked soup, lots of kind feedback from Selina.

Barons Quay visitors, Andy met Lina to see how Grozone can be involved in sprucing up an area of Barons Quay ready for July and Northwich in Bloom.

United Utilities came to look at our flood and found a blocked pipe. So hopefully when they unclog it there wont be a problem anymore.

Other projects/partnerships

Roots to Wellbeing Practical Horticulture Award – next block starting soon, is now a rolling programme so anyone can join when they please as long as they have done the paperwork and are unemployed.

Brightlife due to start towards the end of March.

Love My River Project. Funding due to end at the end of March, Pete is looking at new ways of using it, e.g. Love my river Nantwich.

Volunteer led sessions still going well and thank you to the Volunteer Leaders that continue to allow these to happen.

Andy send word to ask permission from the Friends of Grozone group to apply for funding on their behalf for a Mental Health Self Help group from Peoples Health Trust, Friends Group very happy to OK this and wish luck with the funding.

Any other business

CF is starting a new routine in the afternoons at Grozone – Bushcraft, Well being Wednesday, and Chat and Craft. Updates about what is happening each week for each theme will be on facebook and CF will verbally let volunteers know. All volunteers present are happy to go forward with new routine.

Music once a month, Outdoor cooking each week and Roots to Well being is still taking place each week.

A reminder – that volunteers, including volunteer leaders who are not leading are not allowed in the tool shed without asking permission of the leader of the day first.

Discussion on moving the smoking shelter or making it more shelter. CF reluctant to change it, it is a shelter for smoking in, not hanging out in. There are lots of warm and shelter places to go around Grozone when you have finished your cigarettes. It is also up to anyone who isn’t a smoker if they come and join the smokers in the shelter, that is their choice.

Jonathan Hampshire keen to invite Transition Town Northwich to come and talk to Grozone volunteers about what they do with a transition town and if we can help towards a greener future.

Jonathan Hampshire also keen to be part of the Green Hearts campaign from “Show the Love” a movement to bring climate change to the fronts of peoples minds. This involves making green hearts from paper and seeds and sending them to the local MP – this will happen on a Wellbeing Wednesday “connect” day – maybe 14th March.

Stuart Poucher is organising with Pete Attwood a specific Grozone volunteers talk of his trip to Madagascar, this will take place at the Groundwork Offices on a Thursday, exact date and time to be arranged.

Rachel Lanham expressed a need for more advertising and a refresh of the posters that are around Northwich Town, with our new routine on. JH happy to put up a poster in citizens advice and RL in the information point. CF to make a poster. Also could they go further a field, e.g. wyvern house and Winsford library?

In order to make Grozone fully wheelchair accessible, could we not build a ramp into the boot room?

Notified volunteers of the small pot of funding coming from the Co-Operative Supermarket, for the wood workshop, first instalment of approx. £200 coming very soon.